Improvement in reed-organs



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN It. LOMAS, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO BERNARDSHONINGER, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN REED-ORGANS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 161,134, dated March23, 1875; application filed November 23, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J oHN It. LOMAS, of the city and county of NewHaven, in the State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulimprovement in Air-Chambers of Musical Instruments, and that thefollowing specitication, taken in connection with the drawing forming apart of the same, is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to sounding-boards and air-chambers ot'reed-instruments.

The drawing, Figure l, shows a vertical central section ot' that partof, an organ embodying my invention.

All organs and reed-instruments, as usually constructed, are providedwith an air-chamber, as shown at A, into which the air is drawn throughthe reeds It of the reed-board D, and out ot' which it is drawn into thebellows B. The top G of this air-chamber constitutes what is known asthe sounding-board ot' the instrument, while the bottoni ot' the chamberO furnishes the top to the bellows-chest B. This air-chamber A isconstantly subject to an exhaust force of air when the bellows is inoperation, and it is necessary to the properworking of the instrumentthat this chamber should be air-tight, and that no air enter or escapeexcept through the proper openings It and T. The top and bottom eachpresent an extended surface, and they are almost invariably made of thinsoft wood. One ofthe greatest annoyances experienced by organmakers isthe warping and shrinking` of these boards, whereby they are cracked,separated from the reed-board, or their pores or joints are opened andleaks caused in the air-chamber A. Changes of heat and moisture greatlyaffect these boards by swelling or shrinking them.

My invention consists in constructing the boards which form the top andbottom of this air-chamber, and upon which the reed-board D is secured,in such a way that this warping and cracking will be prevented and theirpores rendered more impervious to the air. It is accomplished asfollows: To the ordinary thin soft-wood board I add veneers of otherwood, (hard wood is pret'erable,) the grain of the veneers runningcrosswise with the grain ot' the sott wood over its surface. The veneersmay be added either above or below the sott wood, but I prefer to usethem on both sides. An instrument with its air-chamber constructed ofboards prepared as above described is perfectly protected againstinjuryfrom any ordinary changes of temperature; it cannot warp, and the aircannot leak Athrough the pores of the wood.

1 am aware that two layers of woods have been joined together for-thepurpose of pre.- venting warping in other devices and that such woodshave been used for chair-seats and sounding-boards for pianos, 85e., butin none of those cases prior to my invention has the purpose or resultbeen to secure air-tight, resonant, and durable properties, which areeminently requisite in a wind-instrumeut. I do not claim the abovedescribed method ot' joining woods together, nor the compound woodproduced by gluing two or more woods together; but

What I do claim as my invention, and de sire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

In a reed-organ, the wind-chest A, provided with the veneered top Gr,and the reed-board D, all combined and arranged substantially as shown,for the purposes described.

J. R. LOMAS.

Witnesses:

SIEGWART SPIER, NATHAN SPIER.

